


A Breakup in Ten Parts

by static_abyss



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Background Relationships, Gen, Getting Back Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 06:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12953274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss
Summary: What is a breakup but a pause in the middle of fate.





	A Breakup in Ten Parts

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Sciles Secret Santa gift for [stvles-stilinski](http://stvles-stilinski.tumblr.com/). Happy Holidays and all the best!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic, and I promise it is not as angst-filled as it seems. 
> 
> Please see the bottom of this fic for warnings.

**1\. His mother doesn't approve.**

 

> Melissa McCall raised her son to be kind, because she had not met a man who had been kind to her up until the day Scott was born. She'd been with Rafael for years, both of them hoping Scott would save them, neither of them brave enough to let the other go. 
> 
> "You will regret this," Melissa's father had told her. "Marrying a man we barely know. That's not how we do these things in this family."
> 
> "This is what I want," Melissa had said. "Are you going to stop me?"
> 
> "You will regret it for longer than I do," her father had said. 
> 
> But then Scott was born and Melissa would never regret what led to her son in her arms, Scott's little brown hands curled into tiny fists, his skin red and his eyes shut tight against the light when she first held him. He has always been and always will be the most beautiful person Melissa has ever seen. She wants him to have everything, and he gets nothing.
> 
> He fights and fights and at the end of the day, Scott is always down a friend, down an ally, down something he shouldn't have ever lost in the first place. He is Melissa's only son and she will always be there for him. It is her responsibility to protect him when no one else will, even if it's because Scott is too stubborn to let other people into the line of fire when it's their choice to be there. 
> 
> Especially because he wants no one hurt but himself.
> 
> Which is why, when Stiles comes to see her, she doesn't go easy on him.
> 
> "I love him," Stiles tells her. 
> 
> He is fifteen, with big amber eyes that look at Melissa like she holds the guillotine over his head. Stiles keeps biting the corner of his thumb and shifting from foot to foot, ever restless, always in constant motion for as long as Melissa can remember. He's been dragging Scott all over the place, both of them equally prone to trouble, always giving so easily into what the other one wants. 
> 
> Scott loves Stiles, too. He has cried into his blankets at night, his heart filled to burst, every sliver of his being tuned into Stiles. It's too much, too soon. They are children, and Melissa knows how these things can go. She wants them to be happy, but only when they are ready, when the love they have for each other has matured and they're not overwhelmed by what they feel. She loves Scott, but she loves Stiles too, and right now, they can only hurt each other.
> 
> "What about Lydia?" Melissa asks.
> 
> Stiles looks down and shrugs. The tips of his ears are red and he's kicking at air. Melissa wishes this were easier. She wishes she could know for sure that neither Scott nor Stiles would hurt each other if they tried this now.
> 
> "I like her too," Stiles says.
> 
> Melissa nods. "You like her more."
> 
> Stiles says nothing.

  
  
  


**2\. You change in different ways.**

 

> Scott McCall has literally died to save the innocent. Stiles knows he will never be able to top this. He is selfish and rude and if there's an easy way out Stiles has probably found it, used it and recycled it. They are two different people who try to balance each other out, Stiles rough where Scott has always been soft. Scott is steady and wise, and all the rough teenage edges have faded away with each murder, each change, each werewolf pack that runs through Beacon Hills and tries to hurt the people there. Scott is older than he should be, more tired than Stiles has ever seen him, and he's still fighting, still pushing himself, giving more than he should, asking for nothing in return.
> 
> "I have to save them," Scott has said more times than Stiles can count. He has meant it every time, has come out of every battle clean and whole.
> 
> Scott is Batman.
> 
> Stiles has not wanted to be Batman for a very long time.

  
  
  


**3\. The girls of your dreams always love him. But it's okay, you understand the impulse.**

 

> "I see you," Lydia tells Scott.
> 
> She wants him to know, because she understands what it's like to be there but to not be seen. She's been pretty as long as she can remember, but she's rarely smart, never kind. Scott, on the other hand, is gentle and caring. He has learned what it means to be human better than the rest of them put together. 
> 
> It makes sense, Lydia thinks, that Scott who's a werewolf, who died trying to save others, is the only one who really understands the intricacies of humanity. 
> 
> She loves him. Simple as that. But then, it has never been a hardship loving Scott McCall. And if Lydia didn't have Allison, there would be no question as to who her choice would be.

  
  
  
  
  


**4\. When you kiss him, something has changed.**

 

> Scott's hands are warm where they slide down Stiles's side, the front of his body emanating heat where he's pressed chest to chest with Stiles. His lips are hot on Stiles's neck, his breathing harsh, the hammering of his heart beating right into Stiles's skin. They're closer than they've been for the last six months, both of them knowing that with graduation in June, they only have a couple of months together.
> 
> Scott is staying in California.
> 
> Stiles is not.
> 
> Their time's limited, Stiles knows this, and still, for some reason he doesn't fully understand, when he kisses Scott, it's not the same.
> 
> "Wait," Stiles says.
> 
> Scott's hands drop down immediately. He takes a step back, looks at Stiles and takes another step back from whatever he sees in Stiles's expression. Scott doesn't ask what's wrong.
> 
> "Maybe we should watch a movie," Scott suggests, his easy smile coming back to his face. 
> 
> He runs a hand through his mop of hair and grins, all of his confidence rolling off him in waves. If Stiles didn't know him, he'd think everything was all right. But there's a small fracture in Scott's smile and this is Stiles; Scott never needs to pretend for him.
> 
> "What is it?" Stiles asks.
> 
> Scott shrugs. It takes more than a second, minutes where Scott seems to be struggling with what to do and where to look. He's visibly forcing himself to relax.
> 
> _What happened?_ , Stiles wants to ask. 
> 
> Scott shudders once, but takes a step back when Stiles moves forward. 
> 
> "No," he says. "I'm all right. I just need a minute."
> 
> They both wince at the lie. The silence that follows is loud in Stiles's living room.
> 
> "It's been a long day," Scott says. "I just need a second. Can we sit?"
> 
> Stiles sweeps his hands out towards the living room couch. He drops down and pats the sofa cushion next to him. He forces himself to relax into his usual slouch, taking up his space next to Scott when Scott sits down. Their bodies know what they're doing and it's not long before Scott's head is on Stiles's shoulder, his breaths steadying until he's asleep.
> 
> When Scott wakes up he apologizes and says he has to go home. He doesn't even wait for Stiles to ask him to stay.
> 
> _What's wrong?_ , Stiles should have asked. 
> 
> But he doesn't need anyone to tell him that he and Scott have lost each other somewhere. 

  
  
  


**5\. You won't ever hold him back.**

 

> When Stiles says he's going away to college, Scott tells him he's happy for him. When Stiles packs his things, when he hands Scott the keys to the jeep, Scott just grins wide like his heart isn't breaking, and tells him to go.
> 
> They part ways and just like that, it's over. 

  
  
  


**6\. Everything gets better when he's gone.**

 

> Scott hasn't heard from Stiles in over a month. His phone sits on his computer table, open and ready for him to type a message to Stiles. All it needs to say is that Scott misses him. It's a truth without giving too much away, without asking for much in return. It's measured affection, expecting an equal dose back, something Scott can control, something to tally.
> 
> He is not okay. He has not been okay since Peter bit him in the forest. He has not been doing anything but surviving from the moment he died the first time.
> 
> It's not like Scott can't handle things. He has been handling himself since his father walked out of his and his mother's life. He gets good grades and hopes that what he wants in life is close enough to what his mother wanted for him.
> 
> Of course, all of this comes after Beacon Hills, or at least in conjunction these days. Whenever he can, his plans include staying near Beacon Hills. He has to be here because there is literally no one else willing to protect the town. It's just him and his pack and nothing else to stand in between the innocent and whatever comes to town. 
> 
> He's fine most days. Malia comes by in the mornings and they go running in the forest together, both of them trying to keep pace with each other, neither of them realising the other is following and not leading. After, Malia will sit on the forest floor and take Scott with her. They'll sit in silence while Malia tries to absorb new memories of the forest. She's getting better at being human these days and her quiet presence is always good for Scott.
> 
> "You should call him," she says today, after their run.
> 
> The winter sun beats down weakly on their heads, the wind biting against the sweat in their hair. Malia shivers and presses herself closer to Scott.
> 
> "I know he misses you," she goes on. "He told me."
> 
> "He calls you?" Scott asks, though he knew it to be true the moment the words left his mouth.
> 
> He's not surprised. He's not even hurt. When Stiles left, he was only ever running from Scott. Scott has only ever just been letting him go.
> 
> "I know you need time," Malia says. "I understand more things about you than you think, Scott. I was there."
> 
> Scott knows this too. It's why he followed her into the forest when she showed up at his door, the week after Stiles left town. 
> 
> "I get that coming back to this after everything is shit. I know that you want to go back."
> 
> Scott says nothing. He doesn't want to lie to her.
> 
> "The difference between you and I is that I didn't die," Malia says. "And if you go back," she stops.
> 
> "There's no going back," Scott finishes for her.
> 
> Malia is quiet for so long Scott thinks he's finally scared her off too. But she's still warm against his side, and her hair still smells like Kira's herbal essence shampoo. 
> 
> "I don't want you to go Scott," she says.
> 
> But that's the problem, Scott thinks. Stiles wants to go and Scott is going to stay. That will always be the problem. Scott can't go. He doesn't want to go. His life has been made for him, each experience serving to shape him more into what Beacon Hills needs. He wouldn't ever leave without planning to come back, because Liam doesn't deserve to go through what Scott went through to get to this conclusion. No other person should have to lose so much. Scott has already done it. He is already prepared. It would be impossible for him to wish his experiences on anyone else.
> 
> It will always be him, until the day he can't anymore.  
> 
> "If I call him, I'll ask him to come back," Scott says. "I can't do that to him."
> 
> Malia scoffs. "I'd drag his ass back here myself if I knew that would fix things."
> 
> "I'd leave and never come back, if I knew it would help," Scott confesses. "I don't know how to make it better."
> 
> Malia moves in closer. She doesn't hug him. This closeness is all she can offer and Scott knows it's more than anyone else gets. 
> 
> "I just want to feel better," Scott says. "And for some reason, whenever he's here, it makes everything worse."
> 
> "You love him," Malia says. "You don't want to hurt him."

  
  
  
  


**7\. You love him. You don't want to hurt him.**

 

> "Just tell me what's wrong?" Stiles asks.
> 
> Scott can see him breaking apart, all the little fractures from the past year where Scott was never there enough, where he was there too often. They haven't really clicked since Scott turned into a berserker and Stiles couldn't call him back. They couldn't reach each other then and they never talked about it, never fixed that insecurity. 
> 
> Scott isn't even sure if he knows who they are anymore. 
> 
> "I love you," he says.
> 
> Stiles goes still. "I know," he says, finally. 
> 
> "I don't know what's wrong," Scott says. "Everything's all right now. Everyone is okay. But I still can't...I don't know how to stop feeling like we're all about to die. I don't know how to be okay."
> 
> They're in Stiles's jeep, because it still feels like Stiles's jeep even though Scott has been driving it for almost a year now. Scott is back in the passenger's seat, his back against the door, sitting sideways so he can look at Stiles. This is a conversation they have to have face to face. It's only fair.
> 
> "You have to pretend," Stiles whispers.  He isn't looking at Scott. "You just pretend until everything is okay again."
> 
> Scott didn't know he wasn't expecting the pain until it catches him by surprise. His next exhale is a little harder, his next inhale a little thicker than usual. He coughs once, trying to get himself under control. 
> 
> "I never pretended," Scott says, his voice steady until the last word. "I never had to when we were together."
> 
> "We both knew something wasn't right," Stiles says.
> 
> Scott can't deny that. He can't reproach Stiles this either. They hadn't been okay. They're kids who grew up too fast, wanting things too quickly, too desperately, always afraid it would be taken from them. And Scott hadn't been pretending, but he hadn't been all there when Stiles needed him either. 
> 
> "What do I do?" Scott asks.
> 
> Stiles leans forward slowly, his eyes on Scott. They both stop breathing when they're close enough to count each other's lashes, when Scott can feel the heat from Stiles. Scott's hands tense up as he tries to push down the desire to touch Stiles, to pull him in, to see if Stiles can make everything better by just being here with Scott. 
> 
> Scott misses him.
> 
> He misses the way Stiles hogged all the blankets even if he just threw them off at night. He misses the heat beneath his palm when Scott pulled Stiles closer to him, the way Stiles closed his eyes just before Scott kissed him.  
> 
> "I never wanted this to end," Stiles says.
> 
> He sways into Scott's space, the back of his hand brushing up against Scott's t-shirt. They both look down, the space between them smaller than it has been in a long time. There's nowhere to go from here, Scott thinks, even as he leans forward the rest of the way. They haven't fixed anything. But when his lips touch Stiles's, it feels, just for a moment, as though maybe they can. It feels like maybe this is still something they both want. 
> 
> "What do we do?" Scott asks when they pull away. 
> 
> Stiles grins wide and winks. "Now," he says. "We go on a road trip."

  
  
  


**8\. If you don't leave Beacon Hills...well...you have to leave Beacon Hills.**

 

> Scott can't leave. There is too much history between him and his hometown. Beacon Hills goes right down to his bones, right into everything that he is. His mother is here. The family he made is here. There are people he promised to protect, children who might hear the howls of wolves at night and be scared. 
> 
> "I can't do it," he tells Lydia and Malia.
> 
> They will understand. Malia can never leave Beacon Hills. She does not want to because it is her home and always will be. Lydia has left and come back, and even though Allison left with her and there's nothing to tie her to Beacon Hills, she keeps coming back. 
> 
> "I get it," Lydia says. "And if I thought staying here was good for you I wouldn't say anything. But Scott. This can't be everything for you. Your life can't start and end in Beacon Hills. No one wants you to do that. They don't need you to do that."
> 
> Scott exhales, each breath a stab in the chest. Hope, he was learning, was always a painful thing. That there was something else in the distance, peace or tranquility, and that Scott could almost see it was too much. 
> 
> "Don't go because of him," Malia says, her hand gripping Scott's tight. "This has to be because you want it. Not because he does."
> 
> "I know," Scott says.
> 
> He is doing this for himself, because he knows what it's like to live with the weight of people's lives on his shoulders, and he is tired. He wants to prove to himself that Beacon Hills can continue without him, that he matters little here so that he can matter more somewhere else. He wants to be a little selfish, just enough so that when Stiles asks him to move in with him, Scott can say yes. 
> 
> Most of all, Scott wants to know what's it's like to be free. To walk the world knowing that he can have whatever he wants if he really wants it, free to make choices without having to think about a whole town of people who barely know him. He needs to know Beacon Hills can be okay because his whole life can't be Beacon Hills.
> 
> "Come with me," Scott says.
> 
> He's talking to Malia, but also to Lydia, to Kira who moved back to be with Malia. He's talking to Mason and Liam, to Theo, and every kid who was dragged into this without their consent. 
> 
> Malia stares at Scott, her face set. "I don't want to," she says. "But I know that's why I have to go."
> 
> *
> 
> They leave on a Tuesday because if they waited for the weekend, Scott would never go. He feels each step towards Stiles's jeep like a hundred pound weight holding him back. His mother is on their front porch, her smile wide, pride shining on her face. Scott knows she has wanted him to leave Beacon Hills almost as long as she's known he was a True Alpha. 
> 
> She loves him. He loves her. Things like that transcend cities. So it's okay to go, Scott tells himself, because his mother will be waiting when he comes back.

  
  
  
  


**9\. You know this can work. You both just have to want it.**

 

> For a moment, Stiles thinks Scott isn't going to come. But then Scott comes up over the hill leading up to Stiles's house, one hand carrying his duffel bag, and the other dragging along Malia, who is dragging Kira along. Kira and Scott are laughing, both of them so at ease that Stiles gets thrown back to freshman year before the forest, when Scott had laughed in the middle of the summer and Stiles had fallen in love with him. 
> 
> When Scott gets close enough, he leaves Malia and Kira and jogs up to Stiles. He's a little out of breath, his eyes lingering on Stiles. He runs his free hand through his hair, swaying on his feet, unsure of his place in Stiles's space. 
> 
> This is how Stiles knows they'll be okay. Because when he leans forward, Scott is already meeting him halfway. Because they kiss and things don't magically fall into place, but they rearrange themselves in a way that lets Stiles know that this is meant to happen, that it's right and expected, that it's something that always has happened and always would happen. They have belonged together since they were five and fighting over a sandbox.
> 
> "Are you ready?" Stiles asks when they pull apart.
> 
> Malia and Kira slide right by, both of them exaggerating their winks. Scott smiles at them, then back at Stiles.
> 
> "Lydia said to call her when we get to Massachusetts," Scott says.
> 
> He tosses his bag into the back of the jeep, turns back around and grabs Stiles's face in his hands. "I'm not ready," he says, pressing a long hard kiss to Stiles's mouth.
> 
> Still grinning, the light of the setting sun trailing behind him, Scott shakes his head and gets into the jeep anyway.

  
  
  
  


**10\. What is a break up, but a pause in the middle of fate.**

 

> It is 5:23pm on a Tuesday, when they drive out of Beacon Hills.

**Author's Note:**

> There is mention of Scott's depression and a mention of contemplating death, which could also be read as suicidal thinking. In more detail, it's a mention to one of Scott's canon deaths and Scott's wish to maybe go back. Nothing too explicit, but mentioned here all the same.


End file.
